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Paper CONTRIBUTIONS from WOMEN to the RADIATION SCIENCES: a BRIEF HISTORY Paper CONTRIBUTIONS FROM WOMEN TO THE RADIATION SCIENCES: A BRIEF HISTORY Nicole E. Martinez* This work highlights only a sampling of female scien- Abstract—Contributions from men to radiation science are well known, particularly the early contributions from such luminaries tists, engineers, and mathematicians who have contributed as William Roentgen, James Chadwick, Niels Bohr, Robert to the current state of knowledge and technology and is Oppenheimer, and the like. Although not ignored per se, beyond not meant to be a comprehensive history of women in the Marie Curie and Lise Meitner, the contributions of female nu- field. It draws from many excellent biographies and bio- clear scientists are not as widely recognized. This paper provides a concise historical summary of contributions to radiation science graphical essays that the interested reader is referred to for from the discovery of radiation through the current status of in- more in-depth discussions and analysis (see works cited). ternational leadership within the radiation protection community. Beyond lead scientists and academics, this paper also considers THE WOMEN support personnel as well as the role women have played in the ad- vancement of radiation epidemiology. – – The early years: 1895 1930 Health Phys. 112(4):376 383; 2017 Since the discovery of ionizing radiation in 1895, Key words: historical profiles; epidemiology; Health Physics Soci- women have made numerous contributions to the field of ety; radiation protection radiation science. Many of these women faced significant personal and professional challenges, particularly those liv- ing in the early to mid-twentieth century who provided the foundation of nuclear science. Early female scientists, and women in general, encountered many barriers in pursuit of INTRODUCTION their occupational field of choice due to their gender. Even exceptionally talented and qualified women had very lim- THIS PAPER presents a synopsis of the contributions women ited educational opportunities, particularly in higher educa- have made related to the broad field of nuclear and radiation tion. Also, even after receiving an advanced degree, most science. Studies have shown that having a role model to women had to take unpaid positions (Byers and Williams identify with is an important factor in the recruitment and 2006). For perspective, at the time of Roentgen’sdiscovery retention of women (or other minorities) in the sciences, of x rays in 1895, New Zealand (a British colony at the time) where women are still an underrepresented group (Dimitriadi was the only country in which women had the right to vote 2013; Young et al. 2013). Recognizing the historical contri- (Ramirez et al. 1997). Only two more countries (Australia butions from women, then, is important not just for the his- and Finland) granted women the right to vote by the time tory of science but for communicating the value of and Marie Curie, a Polish-born French physicist and chemist, won continued need for women in science. Beyond providing her second Nobel Prize in 1911. Between 1915 and 1920, 13 stories of inspiration, considering this history of accom- more countries granted this right, with 20 more between plishment (and in many cases sacrifice) provides insight 1920 and 1945 (Ramirez et al. 1997). As France granted into how and why things have changed as well as the poten- women’s suffrage in 1944, Curie (1867–1923) was never tial for identifying legacies of past events in current situa- allowed to vote in her lifetime, despite the fact that she tions (Dimitriadi 2013). was, and still remains, the only person to be a Nobel laureate in two scientific disciplines (Greer and Tolmachova 2011). *Clemson University, Clemson, SC. The author declares no conflicts of interest. Marie Curie (née Sklodowska) shared her first prize, For correspondence contact the author at 342 Computer Ct., the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics, with her husband Pierre Anderson, SC 29625 or email at [email protected]. for their combined research on radiation and radioactivity, (Manuscript accepted 17 November 2016) 0017-9078/17/0 along with Henri Becquerel, who was awarded one-half Copyright © 2017 Health Physics Society of the prize for the initial discovery of radioactivity. As DOI: 10.1097/HP.0000000000000646 an aside, “radioactivity” was a term first used by Curie in 376 www.health-physics.com Copyright © 2017 Health Physics Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Contributions from women to the radiation sciences c N. MARTINEZ 377 1898. This was the same year she became the first woman of viruses within a cell. Alper also had a broad range of ex- in France to receive a doctorate. Five years later, Curie be- pertise and experiences beyond radiobiology, which in- came the first female professor at the Sorbonne in Paris, cluded training and conducting research related to teaching having taken her husband’s place after his untimely death those without hearing, as one of her sons was born deaf in 1906. Soon after, she was independently awarded the (Hornsey and Denekamp 1997; Sime 2005). After her time 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the 1898 discovery of at KWI, Alper returned to South Africa and married Max polonium as well as the discovery and isolation of radium Sterne. Now married, she was unable to attain an academic (Sime 1996; Greer and Tolmachova 2011; Wirten 2015). position, so she and her new husband set up a laboratory in Although Curie is the most recognizable female radia- a garden shed at their personal residence. After a few years tion scientist, and arguably one of the most famous histori- in England, the couple again returned to South Africa in cal figures in science in general, there were other women 1948, when Alper became head of the Biophysics Section who made related discoveries. For example, Harriet Brooks of the South African National Physics Laboratory. This (1876–1933), a Canadian nuclear physicist and a student of appointment lasted until 1951, when she was forced to Ernest Rutherford, discovered radon in 1901 and in 1904 relocate due to her active and vocal opposition to apartheid. became the first person to observe nuclear recoil following The remainder of her career, as well as her retirement, was radioactive decay (Rayner-Canham and Rayner-Canham spent primarily in England. Happily married (retaining her 1992). She worked as a tutor at a women’s college for 2 y maiden name) with two children, Alper passed away just after that, at which time she became engaged and was shy of what would have been her 63rd wedding anniversary promptly asked by the dean to resign her position. Brooks (Hornsey and Denekamp 1997). found this ultimatum highly inappropriate, and the stress Many of the early discoveries involving radiation and of the situation led her to leave both the position and the en- radioactivity found medical or commercial use. One of the gagement. She worked briefly in Curie’s lab but ironically now infamous examples is the so-called radium boom. ended up forming a second engagement and leaving re- For a while, radium was marketed as a medicinal cure-all search, seemingly for the social and financial stability mar- (Cothern and Smith 1987), and even today, “radon caves” riage provided (Rayner-Canham and Rayner-Canham 1992; remain a tourist attraction in several areas (Harvie 1999). Byers and Williams 2006). A second utility emerged when it was discovered that ra- With a similar view on the supposed incompatibility of dium could be combined with phosphorescent material to marriage and science (for women, at least), Lise Meitner make luminous paint, with related patents filed as early as (1878–1968), an Austrian-born German physicist, never 1903. The first radium dial watches were sold commercially married and devoted her life’s work to nuclear physics; starting in 1913, followed by a rapid increase in demand she was of the mindset that science required one’s complete for similar radioluminous products through World War I dedication (Sime 2005). Meitner discovered protactinium in (Rowland 1994). During this time, more than 1,000 workers 1917 in collaboration with the radiochemist Otto Hahn, (nearly 5,000 by 1980), mainly women, painted instruments who was also her close friend. That same year, Meitner be- with radium, licking the brush tip to get a fine point. Al- came head of the physics section at the Kaiser Wilhelm In- though such “tipping” was prohibited starting in 1926, stitute for Chemistry (KWI) and then a professor in 1919. many young women had spent years ingesting radium, in No other women were given permanent scientific positions some cases on the order of 40 mg (Fry 1998). The subse- at this institution during her tenure there, and only three are quent health effects had a significant historical impact on listed as authors on the institution’s publication list. Meitner industrial safety standards, and eventually (1941) a toler- herself never published with another woman nor graduated ance level for radium was established from dial painter data a female doctoral student (Sime 2005). A few years later (Rowland 1994; Clark 1997). Clinical studies of those ex- (1922), Meitner offered one of the first explanations (albeit posed to radium, particularly dial painters, have resulted in not quite right) for the Auger effect, named for the French major contributions to the understanding of radium’sbe- scientist Pierre Auger, who experimentally observed said havior in the body as well as the disease processes, includ- effect in 1923 and offered its complete theoretical explana- ing tumor formation, that result from ingestion of radium tion (Duparc 2009). (Boice and Lubin 1997; Fry 1998). One of the women who was a student in Meitner’s On the medical side, diagnostic radiography also led to section at KWI was Tikvah Alper (1930–1933), a South some significant exposures.
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